There have been renewed efforts to prevent the construction of Shell’s
high-pressure gas pipeline and onshore refinery in county Mayo following
the imprisonment of local environmental campaigner, Maura Harrington.

Harrington was arrested on her way home from a funeral and was brought
to Mountjoy women’s prison in Dublin for refusing to pay fines relating
to ‘offences’ while protesting against Shell’s experimental gas scheme.

It was Harrington’s fifth detention as a result of her activism. Her
most recent spell in Mountjoy was only last December.

Harrington was released after four days. However, other Shell to Sea
activists, Pat ‘the chief’ O’Donnell and Niall Harnett are still serving
sentences in Castlerea prison as a result of their resistance to Shell.

Condemning the latest arrest and jailing of Harrington, eirigi Sligeach
activist Gerry Casey said that the timing of her arrest was deliberate.

“Once more, the Gardai are doing the dirty work of Shell. As with the
jailing of Maura on previous occasions, and with Pat O’Donnell and Niall
Harnett both of whom remain in Castlerea Prison, removing key activists
opposed to Shell’s pipeline and the giveaway of hundreds of billions of
euro worth of natural resources, is a deliberate tactic used by the
Gardai to assist Shell.”

He pointed out that Shell were this resuming work on their project.

“Quite clearly Maura was removed at Shell’s behest in an attempt to
lessen legitimate protest against their activities.”

Shell has today lodged a new planning application for its raw gas
pipeline.

The new plan was drawn up by Shell after the Irish state planning
authority, An Bord Pleanala, found up to half of its second proposed
routing for the onshore pipe was “unacceptable” on safety grounds, due
to proximity to housing in Rossport, Glengad and Aughoose.

The proposed pipeline will still run over lands of at least five
landowners in the Glengad area and several others in Lenamore, near
Ballinaboy.

A section of the pipeline already laid up to the high water mark at
Glengad, which had been deemed exempted development, has been included
in the new application.

A new compulsory acquisition order for access to lands has been
submitted to An Bord Pleanala.

Speaking following her release from Mountjoy, Ms Harrington as oil
continues decimating the coast of Louisiana, a local Mayo fisherman,
Pat O’Donnell remains in his jail cell for attempting another tragedy on
Mayo’s coast.

“Pat has consistently tried to highlight the potential for mass
pollution and destruction of the seas, that comes with Shell’s plans for
north-west Mayo,” she said.

She also criticised the 26-County Minister of State for Natural
Resources Conor Lenihan for stating that a Gulf of Mexico-type pollution
incident could never happen in Ireland.

She pointed out that despite the Gulf pollution uproar, Ministers Conor
Lenihan and Eamon Ryan had recently opened up a further area covering
more than 250,000 square kilometers to the oil companies for
exploitation.

“For Conor Lenihan to say that the oil companies current drilling
programme 80km off the coast of Mayo will be “closely monitored” runs
totally in contrast with our experiences for the last 10 years,” she
said.

“The Government have let Shell away with illegally constructing pipe
beside us here in Glengad, how are they going to watch what Shell are
doing 80km out to sea?”

In relation to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Ms Harrington added: “A
supposedly fail-safe device called a blowout preventer, failed to
operate and resulted in the huge oil spill, and yet we’re supposed to
believe Shell, that their fail-safe devices will always work and don’t
pose any risk to our community.

“As we are currently seeing, it is the local communities that have to
deal with the consequences when something goes wrong.”